Driving sustainable choices for consumer electronics : the influence of sustainability cues on purchasing decisions

Sustainable product attributes can be condensed into sustainability cues such as labels and tags. These sustainability cues can be visually displayed in online markets to help consumers understand product sustainability. However, knowledge of the effectiveness of labels and other types of sustainability cues in promoting sustainable consumer behavior, especially for electronic products, is limited. Using an online choice experiment (n = 346), this study examined the effectiveness of five different sustainability cues (sustainability labels, a multi-level Eco Score, a CO2 Score, and two types of sustainability tags). We found that all sustainability cues tested increased the choice of sustainable products compared with the control group. The Eco Score has the largest effect on increasing sustainable purchase decisions, followed by sustainability tags and the CO2 Score. The positive effect of conventional sustainability labeling was not statistically significant. The results provide empirical evidence for the effectiveness of sustainability cues in promoting more sustainable consumption decisions for electronic products. Online marketers are encouraged to use integrated sustainability labeling schemes, such as the Eco Score, carbon labeling, and easy-to-understand sustainability tags, to promote more sustainable product choices in digital market environments. In addition, this study encourages policymakers to consider introducing an Eco Score label for consumer electronics.